In today’s digital age, the phrase “personal branding” has become a term that’s synonymous with displaying one’s top achievements and effectuating top value for companies and industries. Personal branding enables today’s leaders to reveal their presence through action, data and performance.

If you're an executive looking to improve your brand, I recommend two key steps: becoming a subject matter expert in your industry and ensuring that your online presence markets you in the most professional way. Here's how to get started.

Become A Subject Matter Expert In Your Industry And Leverage It

One of the key aspects of personal branding today is to become known in your industry and field as that go-to person who others can rely on for information and trust, i.e., a subject matter expert.

While it can seem like a daunting task, one such (very practical) way to do this is to begin curating content and self-publishing it to garner attention from others inside and outside your industry. Next, seek out features and mentions for blogs and online sources where you can become quoted and displayed for your expertise. Begin utilizing Twitter to share content, innovative ideas, and trending topics in your industry. Show that you are a “key influencer” and “key differentiator” in this subject matter and leverage your opinions with tweets to others.

By putting yourself out there to the virtual world through providing relevant content, impactful thoughts, and novel ideas that hinge on your own personal leadership experience, you will see a dramatic increase in how you are viewed and valued. Additionally, you will also become more involved in your industry and find yourself collaborating more frequently with other thought leaders as well as building strategic partnerships.

Maximize Your Personal Branding And Online Presence

Another sure way to expand your potential in seeking out the most coveted executive management roles is to enhance your executive presence with tenacity and sophistication. Three items of great importance for an executive management portfolio include an executive bio, a one-page networking resume, and a LinkedIn profile.

These three items are necessary tools for displaying your savvy leadership and offering your key value to colleagues, industry professionals and other top business leaders. You will need an executive bio and one-page resume for business meetings, networking and leveraging influential relationships. Additionally, with LinkedIn being the most powerful resource today for leaders and business professionals, it’s best to overhaul your profile with an executive mindset.

LinkedIn enables you to display your knowledge, credentials, and firsthand knowledge of your industry as evidence of your robust talent and skills. But, before you begin overhauling your LinkedIn profile, review profiles of top CEOs and business leaders to see how they brand themselves, how they leverage their value, and how they sell their skill sets. Additionally, look at the articles they share and the content they curate.

This begs the million-dollar question: What should an executive LinkedIn profile have in it? An executive LinkedIn profile should contain a customized URL, compelling headline, and a standout summary that chronicles your career story and leadership path (emphasis on leadership). The profile should be complete with detailed achievements that command and communicate your high-impact results and bottom-line value. The most important areas of the LinkedIn profile are your headline and summary because they are comparable to a book's title and back cover copy. Just as you peruse the "Best-Seller" booklist online and find yourself enamored by book titles and book summaries, an executive LinkedIn profile must have that same element of allure.

As personal branding continues to be a trend in the digital age workforce, it remains a powerful force in enhancing one’s executive leadership potential and growth. Therefore, wherever you go next in your career path, take your personal brand with you.